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Degrees
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Masters, Northwestern University, B.A., Boston College
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My Expert Service
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What do you get when you cross a babysitter and former Big Bird with a professional opera singer, an award-winning entrepreneur and an iVillage babysitting expert? You get Sittercity founder and CEO, Genevieve Thiers, of course.
As the oldest of seven children, including two sets of twins, babysitting is in Thiers' blood. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at Boston College, she worked her way through school by babysitting for over 30 families. Endless diaper changes and bedtime stories later, Thiers pitched the idea for Sittercity.com to Boston investors in 2000. Their response? "We don't fund babysitting clubs."
Undaunted, Thiers turned to another "investor," her dad, and borrowed $120 to buy the domain name for Sittercity.com. Using part of her salary from her job at IBM, Thiers hired two friends to design the Sittercity website. While they put their technical design skills to use, Thiers spent her days at IBM, her nights singing and getting her master's degree in opera, and all of her free time distributing 20,000 babysitter recruitment flyers across Boston on foot, including 20 local colleges.
Years later, Thiers' blisters from those recruitment days have healed and Sittercity, now based in Chicago, has more than a million member profiles nationwide. This babysitter-turned-entrepreneur has also brought her caregiving expertise to the national media, having appeared as an expert in multiple TV, radio and print outlets including the Ellen, The View, the Today Show (where she even serenaded Mike Leonard!), the CBS early Show, CNN, iVillage Live, Martha Stewart Living Radio, The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch, Life & Style, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Redbook, Parents, Parenting, Real Simple, Better Homes and Garden, and Working Mother. Thiers currently runs a popular business blog for Crain’s Chicago Business, currently serves as the iVillage Babysitting Expert and her first book, Love at First Sit, was published in the summer of 2008.
In addition to appearing in the national media for her expertise on caregiving, Thiers and Sittercity have also been recognized for her innovative vision and unique business-savvy with over thirteen awards. In 2007, Thiers was listed on Forbes Junior Power League and in Crain's 40 Under 40. Prior to that, Thiers was recognized in a ceremony by President Bush at the White House as the Small Business Administration Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2006 and received the Women's Business Development Center Rising Star Award for 2005. Noted for her expertise and business acumen, Thiers has spoken at hundreds of entrepreneurial forums, young executive forums, mother's forums, colleges and conventions across America, and is a popular keynote speaker. She has been a speaker at Microsoft, the National CEO Convention, the Heartland Institute, Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Business and has taught classes at Babson College, Boston College, Columbia College in Chicago and the University of Illinois. In addition to advising students, Thiers has also shared her small business expertise with various political figures, from former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson to head of the SBA Steven Preston to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
To learn more about Genevieve Thiers and her expert appearances nationwide, please visit www.sittercity.com/press.html.
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Experience & Qualifications
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Founder and CEO, Sittercity.com, national caregiving and entrepreneurial expert for shows like Ellen, The View, TODAY show, GMA, CBS Early Show and sites like iVillage.com, author of Love at First Sit (caregiving topic.)
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Available Modes Of Communication
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email/chat
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Contact
Genevieve Thiers
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